Chapter 11: Where There's A will, There's A Way

Flashbacks will be marked like this: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* and so on across
the page.

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evening...

Madison was in her room, reading, when the phone rang. "Hello? This is
Madison." "MADISON!" the other person on the line shrieked. Madison held
the phone away at first, confused, then laughed in surprise when she
realized who was on the phone. "Sakura, is that you?" "Yes, omigosh!
Madison, it's so fantastically amazing!" "What's so great, Sakura?" "Li's
back in Japan! I met up with him in the park earlier today." "Sakura,
that's totally great! So how are you guys?" Madison could hear Sakura
sigh on the other end. "I told him I wanted to start our relationship
over again, because he's been gone so long and everything." "Oh, that's
too bad. Who knows? Maybe you guys will be better off starting off like
that. Don't worry Sakura. Li really loves you. He won't let you go again,
not if he can help it." Sakura paused. "Yeah, I guess you're right." "No,
Sakura. You have to have faith in him if you want your new relationship
to have a chance to work." On the other end, Sakura smiled. "Yeah, you
ARE right. I'll try to be more confident and less doubtful." "That's the
spirit!" "Look, Madison, I have to go. I'll see you in a week, okay?"
"Sure, Sakura! Bye!"
When they hung up, Madison looked at a picture of Li and Sakura on her
desk. 'It's going to take a lot of work to repair the damage done in they
relationship. I hope Sakura can take it.' Suddenly, Madison thought of
something. 'Oh no! Li has brown hair... Melanie likes boys... Li and
Sakura's relationship is on the rocky side right now...' Madison sucked
in her breath. 'What if Melanie tries to take Li away?'

sakura's house...

"I'm so glad Li's back! And to think school starts in a month!" Sakura
cried. She ran up the stairs to make a card. "Don't bother me, Tori, I'm
really busy!" Sakura yelled to her brother. She ran into her room, locked
the door, and then closed the blinds. Almost in a whisper, she called out
her wand from her necklace charm. "Star of Clow, power of magic, power of
light, surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!" The wand came out.
{a floating maiden in the air with a miniskirt on, sleeveless, short
blouse, searching for someone} Sakura thought intently. "Find Card,
create from Clow magic! Find Card, create!" She slammed down her wand in
front of her, where she stopped it and a card was created, with a maiden
in a miniskirt and a blouse short enough to see her stomach, floating in
the air, wistfully searching for someone.
Sakura smiled. 'Another card, this way, I'll be able to find someone
when they get lost. Really, this is for Li...'

Melanie was at the park, muttering. "Jeez, doesn't Sakura have enough
pick of boys instead of picking the one guy I really like?" She thought
of the image of Li. 'silky, brown hair, amber eyes, great body,
muscular..' "He's so handsome. I'll find a way to win his heart yet. Oh,
I know!" She practiced Sakura's voice. "I'll get Li somewhere, and then
I'll just win his heart over." She practiced some more.

a week later... sunup...

Sakura was with Li at the beach. Li was in his swimming trunks, and
Sakura was wearing her beach bikini again. They weren't holding hands,
for once.
"Sakura?" "Yeah?" "I know you think that I'm such a liar, and I can't be
trusted, because I broke our promise." "I don't think that!" "I know you
too well, Sakura. Admit it. That's the truth." Sakura hesitated. "You're
right. I did think that a while ago. But at least you're here now." She
turned her head to look at him. 'Li is so handsome...' Li looked at her.
"You know, I didn't really want to stay in Hong Kong. I was hoping that
while I come back here, my sisters could work for the money. But my mom,
she was devastated that I could think to leave at the time I was supposed
to. I'm sorry I didn't work faster, though." Sakura started to cry. "No,
I had faith that you would come back eventually... just the fact... that
I didn't know when you would really scared me... but when you told me you
weren't coming back just yet, I was so angry that you broke our
promise..." Sakura didn't reach over to hug Li, she just pulled in her
knees and put her arms on top and cried into her arms.
Li was really sad. 'We don't even have the close relationship we used to
have before I left... it really is all my fault...' "Sakura..." Li closed
the distance between them and hugged Sakura. He pulled her up until they
were both standing, and Sakura kind of just 'put' her arms around Li's
neck, still crying. Li was heartbroken. 'I can't stand it when Sakura
cries... and this time, i made her cry again!' Li hugged her closer to
him, wishing that their relationship could keep going the way it used to
be. He kept his arms around her in a friend kind of way, but he really
wanted to become Sakura's boyfriend again. So he let his arms drop down
to her slim waist.
Sakura stopped crying a little, surprised. She looked at Li's face. He
was looking at her with so much care, kindness, and love, Sakura did wish
that her relationship and Li's were the same as before. Then, a split
second later, she realized that was exactly what Li wanted, from the way
he looked at her so expectantly. Then she stopped crying and flung her
arms around Li's neck, hugging him close to her. "I missed you so much,
Li..." Li sighed in relief. Sakura wanted the same thing he did! "Don't
worry. I won't go away again, not if I can help it." Li hesitated, then
kissed Sakura to show her he really really meant it this time. Sakura
kissed Li back. 'Things will be back to normal in no time!' Li and Sakura
thought blissfully at the same time.

Meilin was walking happily through the park in shorts and a bikini top
that kind of looked like the top of a sleeveless blouse, except without
the buttons. It went down to her belly button. She saw a couple kissing
in the distance. 'Must be Li and Sakura... I hope their relationship
works out.' Meilin walked into the trees, imagining her wedding with her
would-be husband. 'I don't know who my husband will be, but I will know
when I get married. He'll be handsome..."

1st of august... 3 weeks before school starts... morning...

Melanie had finally perfected her 'Sakura voice'. "Okay, maybe I didn't
PERFECT it, but close enough." Melanie had bought a hot pink string
bikini to impress Li with. Melanie had grown out her hair to her neck
like Sakura's. "Okay, I'm going to review my plan. First, I'll call Li,
tell him to meet me at the local beach, to see if this bikini looks good
on me. Then, when he gets there, I'll surprise him and jump on him. I'll
bring my boom box and get him to dance with me. If I can keep my face
away, then he won't notice I'm not Sakura. If I can even sneak in a kiss,
then my mission is accomplished. I'll see if I can get him to notice MY
body. Personally, I think Sakura is a bit on the chubby side. Can't that
girl get thinner? If all goes according to plan, Li will think I'm hotter
than Sakura, and he'll pick me to go out with. Ha, take that, Sakura!"
Melanie picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Li answered. "Hello, Li?" "Hey. Who is this?" 'Doesn't my voice
sound like Sakura?' "It's me, Sakura." "Oh, hey Sakura. I could swear you
sounded like Melanie." 'Eek, he can't know that!' "No, you were probably
mistaken." "So, what's up?" "I was wondering if you would go to the local
beach with me. I want your opinion on this swimsuit I just bought." "Why
don't you come to my house?" "I was thinking we could swim a little at
the beach afterwards. I'm thinking of bringing my boom box so we can
dance. You know, for old times' sake." 'Gosh', Melanie thought excitedly,
'good thing I did that bit of research.' "Well, okay. Where should I meet
you?" "Well, Li, there's this one part of the beach that I just found
that no one goes to. Meet me there, okay? It's to the far left, behind
this big rock blocking the path to the beach." "Okay, See ya." Melanie
was so excited, she forgot to use her 'Sakura voice'. "Okay! BYE!" She
hung up the phone, and ran to put on her bikini.

meanwhile...

Li didn't believe for a second that it was Sakura who had just called
him. In fact, he had no opinion for Melanie. She wasn't the kind of girl
Li would go out with. 'Just to teach her a lesson, though...' Li dialed
Sakura and Madison's number. "Hey, Madison, hey Sakura." "Oh hi, guys!"
"Same for the two of you!" Li started to talk. "Okay, I just received a
call from Melanie, Sakura, and she was pretending to be you, wanting my
opinion on her bikini. Of course, she didn't sound a thing like you, so I
just listened on, you know, to see what she wanted. I have reason to
believe that she's onto me." "So what can we do about it?" Madison asked,
curious and intrigued. "Well, I have a plan..."
At the end of Li explaining his plan, Sakura reluctantly agreed. "But
Melanie's my friend, Li..." "I know, but I want to just tell her in a way
she won't forget." "Why can't you just not go along with her plan? Just
tell her how you feel." Li shook his head. Madison intervened. "Sakura...
remember what I told you..." Sakura hesitantly agreed again. "Alright,
I'll agree to your plan." "Sakura, please don't be mad. Just have faith
in me." "Okay. I have almost complete faith in you." "Thanks, Sakura.
You're a girl who deserves only the best." Sakura smiled happily. "The
fact is, the only one I really want is you, Li Syaoran." Madison laughed.
"You're the only couple in the world who could actually pull this off."
"We have to go, or Melanie's going to die from excitement." "On the count
of three, we all say goodbye and hang up." "One, Two, Three! Goodbye!"
Madison, Sakura, and Li shouted together. Madison held on for a second,
then said I know you guys didn't hang up either, but I have to go now!
Seeya!" Madison hung up. Li whispered into the phone. "I love you, my
cherry blossom." Sakura closed her eyes blissfully and whispered lightly
into the phone. "I love you too, little wolf."

at the beach, 10 minutes later...

Melanie stood up, wistfully, and looked out breezily towards the ocean.
'If I want Li to admire me, I have to really get him to notice me in
romantic ways.' Although Melanie thought that her hair was exactly like
Sakura's, it didn't have the same shine that Sakura had. Then, from the
corner of her eye, she saw Li coming in swimming trunks. 'Oh, act natural
and romantic, Melanie!' she thought to herself. Melanie walked towards
the water, putting her hand to her forehead, looking wistfully toward the
horizon. Li walked to Melanie. "Hey Melanie. Have you seen Sakura? I'm
supposed to meet her here. She was going to ask me on her opinion on this
new swimsuit of hers. Nice bikini, by the way."
Melanie blinked once, then twice. 'Am I hearing things? He's not looking
dreamily at me, and he doesn't seem to be interested. Oh well. I'm going
to try harder.' Melanie walked over to him. "Doesn't it look great on me?
All my friends seem to think so. The only person I haven't shown is you,
and I REALLY want your opinion on it."
Li looked blankly at her. "It looks fine to me."
Melanie glared at him. 'This is NOT going the way I planned. But I'll
make it that way. Argh!'
Suddenly, Melanie reached up around Li's neck, and kissed him, pulling
herself up by the arms, and pulling herself tight to Li so that he
couldn't push her away. 'Now Li can't get away! He'll realize that I'm
the better just from this!'
But Li had already guessed what Melanie was going to do, and he reached
up behind him, unlocked her arms, and dropped Melanie in the sand. "Jeez,
what's your problem, Melanie? Can't you find a boyfriend to kiss, and not
your friend's guy?"
Melanie's face fell. "You-you don't like me?" 'Why doesn't he like me?
I've tried everything... except getting rid... that's it!'
Li raised his eyebrows. "No, I don't cheat on my girlfriend. Maybe
that's something you ought to work on, Melanie."
Melanie made her famous, sad pouty face. "But Li... I really like you.
And I know you like me too. I bet you're too nice to dump Sakura, that's
all."
Just as Li was about to respond as cooly as possible, he heard Sakura's
voice. 'They're back from shopping! I can't stand Melanie.' Li turned
away from Melanie and smiled widely. "Hey Li! Hi Melanie!" Sakura and
Madison were running through the sand. Madison was dressed in short jean
shorts and a tank top, topped off with her hair in a ponytail and with
sunglasses on. Sakura had on a swirly blue and green swimsuit that was a
two-piece but looked like a one-piece and her hair clipped back with
clips that looked like her necklace charm..
"Like it, Li? Madison and me bought this yesterday! She said it looked
absolutely fantastic on me. But she always says that to whatever I wear,
so I wanted your opinion. Mel's too." Sakura smiled coyly and leaned on
Li's shoulder, crossing her legs. 'Jeez, Melanie, you need to take
flirting lessons to beat that girl off. When does she not get that Li
Syaoran is totally totally mine?' Melanie thought bitterly.

The four spent the rest of the day at that little section of the beach,
swimming and cooling off and all that fun stuff you do at the beach.
Soon, Melanie realized she had to go home. "Sorry guys, but I have to
leave now. My parents are expecting me." Sakura was out swimming, Li was
sound asleep after a hard day, and Madison was reading in the sunlight,
so Melanie bent down and kissed Li on the lips as she leaned down to get
her stuff. She left, thinking about her new plan to get Li to become
hers.

first day of school...

"Hey Li! Madison! Chelsea! Kristin! Hey everybody!" On her first day as
a high school senior, Sakura was very, very excited. 'Soon it's going to
be time for the Homecoming Dance... yeah!' Sakura walked around the
schoolyard, gossiping with her cheerleader friends and Meilin, and waving
to her other friends. When she saw Li, she walked over. "Hey Li! Isn't
this exciting? I'm finally a senior in high school!" Sakura cried in pure
joy. She leaned over to whisper in Li's ear. "I made a new card, the
faith card. It's this pretty maiden in a long wispy dress, her hands
clasped in front of her heart, face glowing with happiness." Li looked at
her. "Well, you don't need the faith card to look happy. You look great.
Is that a new outfit?"
"Yeah, I picked it out." Madison said, walking over to Sakura and Li.
"She really liked that emerald-colored skort (skirt and shorts mixed
together), but she didn't have anything that matched it, so we bought
that tank top," Madison pointed to Sakura's sapphire colored spaghetti
strap tank top, "And a new jacket," Madison then touched Sakura's jean
jacket that had little fake emeralds embedded into different parts of it.
"Well, whatever Madison picked, you still look fantastic to me." The bell
rang. "Oh, I have to get to class!" Madison and Sakura went in one
direction, and Li walked in the other. Melanie, who followed close
afterward, walked to her class, which was in Li's direction.

sakura & madison's homeroom...

"I can't believe we have Mr. Fenton for homeroom again." Sakura told
Madison as they walked into the classroom.
"Well, at least we only have her for homeroom. If we had her for
classes, that would be totally excruciating!"
One of the popular football players in the class, Mike (who by the way,
has a serious liking for Sakura; actually, all the football players do!),
sauntered over to Sakura's seat. "Hey Sakura. Why do we always end up in
the same homeroom class?"
Sakura looked over at Mike. "Hi." she said, as cool as possible. Some
other guys came over too. "Hey Sakura!" they all cried. Sakura nodded,
exasperated, in return. Madison leaned over to whisper in her ear. "This
is what happens when you are the most popular girl in high school!"
Just then, the bell rang for homeroom. "Everyone, get back in your
seats!" the old teacher told them.
Sakura listened carefully to the morning announcements, when suddenly,
she felt a great wrench on her heart that was totally painful and brought
tears to her eyes. 'What's happening?' Sakura asked herself. The bell
rang again. "Go to your first period classes now, kids!" Mr. Fenton told
them. Sakura stood up, and almost fell over. She clenched her fists.
"Madison." Sakura whispered. "What's wrong Sakura?" Madison picked up her
backpack and steadied Sakura. "I don't know... we have to find Li..."

meanwhile, in Li's homeroom...

The teacher droned on and on about the morning announcements. Li
listened, bored to death. 'If only Madison and Sakura were in my homeroom
too, instead of Melanie. Why, oh, why do all these things happen to me?'
Earlier that morning, a whole bunch of girls flirted with him, most of
them on the high school swimming team. Especially Melanie. Melanie was
going to try out for the cheerleading team. 'So I can be as close to
Sakura as possible' Melanie had thought.
When the bell rang, the teacher stood up. "Okay, kids, go to your first
period classes now!" Everyone stood up. 'Something's not right...' Li
thought, looking around the room. 'I have a bad feeling... about-what?'

after school... chearleading tryouts...

"Okay, girls. This is the first of three cheerleading tryouts. The
cheerleaders from last year will perform their routines first! Everyone
must have the basics in their routines or you will not be picked to be on
the cheerleading team! There are going to be ten people plus one runner
up on this team!" Ms. Jacobson called out. Ms. Jacobson had been a
cheerleader in her high school years, so it was better for the
cheerleaders, knowing that the teacher wouldn't try some wacko stunt on
them. "Sakura Avalon, you're up!" Madison held Sakura's boom box and
Sakura walked to the middle of the blacktop. Music from Britney Spears'
"Stronger" started (sorry, but that song is great for dancing and
cheerleading!). Sakura performed flawlessly, doing all the required
moves, plus some extras.
'Stronger... than yesterday... it's nothin but my way...' Sakura
muttered under her breath. 'Stronger!' When the song ended, Sakura jumped
up and did the splits, then landed perfectly, left leg slightly in front
of her right, which was facing forward diagonally to the right, her legs
straight, and stretched her arms above her head and looked at the sky.
"Yeah, Sakura!" almost the whole crowd of people watching shouted,
including Madison. Melanie was the only one who was unenthusiastic.

'Sakura's always showing off.' Melanie thought angrily as Sakura sat
down on the bench next to the coach. As all the former cheerleaders who
had been on the team last year tried out, it became apparent that there
really was only 7 spots for newcomers, because 4 girls had been on the
team last year. 'The competition is fierce, but I will guarantee that I
am on the team!' Melanie thought.

ten minutes later...

"Hey dude, whatcha lookin at? All those cheerleader girls tryin out for
the team?" Bryan teased. "One pretty girl ain't enough for ya, eh?"
another guy asked teasingly. "SHUT UP, YOU GUYS!" Li yelled. He turned
back to look at the tryouts. Scott sat down on the bleachers next to him.
"Hey Li." "Hey Scott." 'No one trying out is better than Sakura. Sakura
is the prettiest, most graceful one.' Li thought happily. 'AND she's my
girlfriend!' "So how are you and Madison?" Li asked Scott. Scott smiled.
"Madison's great. She's nice and sweet to everyone. You and Sakura?" Li
smiled too. "Yeah. We're going out after tomorrow evening."

down at the tryouts...

Everyone had finished performing. Ms. Jacobson gathered them together.
"Okay, everyone, this is the team: Sakura, Kristin, Mandy, ..." Ms.
Jacobson rattled off a few more names until the tenth person and the
runner-up. "and ..." 'Oh, please pick me! Please pick me!' Melanie
thought anxiously. "Melanie, and the runner up is Danielle." The rest of
the girls groaned. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick everyone, but some of you
can try out next year, so don't stop hoping!" Ms. Jacobson sauntered off
the blacktop, and all the cheerleaders from last year's team cheered.
"Another year on the team together!" Sakura cried joyously. "AND there's
all these cool new cheerleaders too!" The girls who had made the team
walked timidly over to the older ones. "Welcome to the group! I bet this
year's team will be absolutely fantastic!" Kristin said.

later that night...

Sakura cringed in pain. The wrenching on her heart was hurting more and
more. 'What's happening?' Sakura thought. She fell to her knees on her
bed, her fists clenched against her heart. 'This hurts so much...'

Melanie looked at the clock. "It's eleven o'clock. Tomorrow, if
everything goes according to plan, Sakura's poor little heart will be so
hurt, emotionally and physically."

tomorrow...

Sakura rushed out of the school during lunch, running as fast as her
long legs could carry her. She pulled off her backpack and tossed it into
the gate as she ran out of the school grounds. Sakura rushed towards the
park, her eyes blinded in tears. 'Why did he do it?! Does he care about
me?'

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~*~*~*

As Sakura walked around the corner, she stopped. Li was hugging Melanie
close to him, kissing her tenderly on the lips, his eyes closed. Sakura
choked a sob, and Li looked up in surprise, letting Melanie go. His eyes
widened when he realized Sakura was standing right in front of him.
Sakura ran back the way she came, tears coming to her eyes. "Wait!
Sakura! Come back!" Li called to her. He started to run, but he tripped
over Melanie's foot. "Sakura! I can explain!" he called to her. "Sakura!"

Madison was walking towards Sakura. "Sakura? What's wrong?" Sakura ran
past her, eager to get away.

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~*~*~*

'I... can't believe he kissed... Melanie!' Sakura thought sadly. 'And to
think that I believed him when he said he loved me...' Sakura started to
sob. She turned at the wrong opening, and arrived at a little clearing.
Sakura slowed down. "Where am I?" She asked out loud. Her heart wrenched
again. Sakura fell to her knees. 'I feel so weak...' Suddenly a shadow
came over her. "Huh?" Sakura tried to stand up, but she fell back on her
knees. The figure in front of her laughed. "So, Clow Mistress, would you
like a rematch? Cause in this state, it looks like I'll win." Sakura felt
like her heart had stopped when she heard the familiar voice. She looked
up. "Matt?!"
"Correct, now let's fight!" Matt summoned his power sword, and struck it
in Sakura direction. She moved aside. Using thought magic, Sakura called
to her wand. "Clow cards, co---" Matt struck her wand aside before she
could finish summoning her cards long-distance to her. "With no Clow
Cards, Mistress, you lose this game." He struck her in the heart just as
the wrench of pain seized her again. Li arrived at the scene with Madison
and Melanie, as Sakura, holding her charm weakly, fell backwards to the
ground. 'Well, this is where it ends...' Sakura thought. 'I have... I
have failed. Goodbye everyone...' Her eyes slowly closed. Sakura was
dimly aware that Li was yelling at Madison to get the police, and she
looked in Matt's direction. He smiled triumphantly, and vanished in a
cloud of dust. The wand returned to her charm.

at the hospital...

Li looked at Sakura from the window after her surgery. She looked so...
serene and pale. The doctor came out. Tori, Mr. Avalon, Li, and Madison
rushed to him for news. The doctor looked down, then up again. "Chances
are she'll die. But we have to have faith in Sakura. There is a slim
chance she'll live, and I know Sakura has the will to live. And where
there's a will, there's a way." Li looked at a picture of an angel on
Sakura's door. 'This is all my fault...' he thought miserably. He blinked
back tears. Madison came over to him. "Remember, Li. Sakura wouldn't give
up, and neither should you. We all have to have faith in her and believe
that she will live." Madison grasped his wrist. Li looked at Madison,
tears starting to fall. "Where there's a will, there's a way."
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